Samsung Pay to Launch in India

Sangeeta Nair

Feb 7, 2017 13:08 IST

The technology giant Samsung is soon going to launch its mobile payment wallet ‘Samsung Pay’ in India. The launch is expected to happen in the first half of 2017.According to reports, Samsung will be partnering with American Express (Amex) to bring its mobile payment solution to India.

The company is also exploring the possibility of partnering with two global financial services companies, Visa and MasterCard.

Samsung has previously partnered with these companies for its e-payment solutions in other regions such as with Amex in countries including the United States, Australia and South Korea.

Key Highlights

• Samsung began testing of ‘Samsung Pay’ in India in December 2016.

• In the first week of February, the company introduced an update in its Galaxy Note 5 smartphone in India that included the Samsung Pay app.

• The e-payment solution supports MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission), a technology that allows the app to send a magnetic signal from a compatible device to the payment terminal's card reader.

• This feature will allow a smartphone to function like a physical card.

• Samsung also aims to position the app as a central database that can store multiple cards from various banks along with Samsung reward cards.

• This will enable fast online transaction like with just a tap or a code.

Concerns

• The service will only work in high-end Samsung smartphones such as Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7, which could limit its reach in India.

• The app is equipped with NFC technology

- It will make the app a hard sell as it would require the company to convince business people across the country to upgrade their existing point-of-sale machines.

- Most of the point-of-sale devices in India don't support NFC.

What is NFC?

• Near Field Communication (NFC) is a wireless connectivity technology, which enables short-range communication between electronic devices.

• It is convenient, as it connects all types of consumer devices and enables rapid and easy communications.

Overall, Samsung Pay is positioned for a perfect entry into the Indian market, as post demonetization, e-wallets such as Paytm and MobiKwik have seen an enormous growth in their user base.

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